We spent an unexpected yet delightful full day with
the children and people of New Hope.
John and Kathy are from Texas and began this unbelievable establishment
which houses, educates, loves, cares for, feeds and transports Cambodian
children with AIDS/HIV. There are 240
children at New Hope and about 235 of them all have HIV/AIDS. New Hope for Cambodian Children (NHCC) works
with the government. Most of the
children have lost both their parents to AIDS and who are abandoned.
The children go to a local school in the morning and
then the village provides additional schooling in the afternoon. In the afternoon, the children have classes in
computers, dance, music, math, English, etc.
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| John - founder |
We were amazed about the self-sufficiency of this
establishment. It is well organized,
kid-friendly, and environmentally friendly.
New Hope breeds their own pigs as part of their income generation
project – I have never seen such large pigs in my life! They have over 10, 000 chickens which also is
a part of the income generation project.
The older children have a garden project. They grow their crops and NHCC buys the
vegetables from the children, so they have some spending money. There is a quilt making project for the
widows that have HIV, so they can support themselves.
President Clinton’s foundation funds all the
medication for every child in Cambodia!
After first, I was a little apprehensive to what I
would see and how the children would be, but it didn’t take long to “forget”
they were infected with HIV/AIDS – they are kids! They were happy and energetic and
healthy. They were running around,
climbing trees, and tricking the dogs, having fun!
We had a huge dance party on the basketball court
with all the kids at the end of the day (in the extreme heat – as one little
girl said I better get out of the sun as my face was red!)
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| Dance Party! |
It was truly a fantastic day!
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| a little boy who just needed to be held |
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